Hole cutter device for graphic arts activity

ABSTRACT

The present device has a cutting edge at the end of a hollow shaft which is movably mounted on a knockout plunger. The hollow shaft is secured to the center of a pulley means which causes the shaft to rotate and thereby effect a cutting action. The pulley means is mounted to be moved in a direction along the axis of said hollow shaft and is limited in that movement by an adjustable stop. The location of the adjustable stop determines the distance that the pulley can carry the hollow shaft along its axis and hence determines the depth of the hole which is cut by said cutting edge of said rotating hollow shaft.

United States Patent Tobias HOLE CUTTER DEVICE FOR GRAPHIC ARTS ACTIVITY- Philip E. Tobias, 1872 Watson Rd., Abington, Pa. 19001 Filed: July 15, 1974 Appl. No: 488,533

Inventor:

US. Cl. 408/14; 408/16; 408/68; 408/111; 408/112; 408/136 Int. Cl. B23b 47/00 Field of Search 408/67, 68, 110, 111, 112, 408/136, 14, 16

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1896 Mattusch 408/67 6/1904 Watt ..408/68 Primary Eranziner-Gil Weidenfeld Attorney, Agent, or FirmWilliam E. Cleaver 5 7 ABSTRACT The present device has a cutting edge at the end of a hollow shaft which is movably mounted on a knockout plunger. The hollow shaft is secured to the center of a pulley means which causes the shaft to rotate and thereby effect a cutting action. The pulley means is mounted to be moved in a direction along the axis of said hollow shaft and is limited in that movement by an adjustable stop. The location of the adjustable stop determines the distance that the pulley can carry the hollow shaft along its axis and hence determines the depth of the hole which is cut by said cutting edge of said rotating hollow shaft.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures HOLE CUTTER DEVICE FOR GRAPHIC ARTS ACTIVITY BACKGROUND In the graphic arts field, it is customary to have individual negatives. or positives, to respectively depict the colors that are to be printed in succession by a printing technique. It is quite necessary to provide a means or technique to maintain accuracy as related to the relative positions of the negatives or positives (which related positioning is referred to as registration). One technique which insures good registration is the technique of punching the negatives with two or more holes (while creating the negative with various camera and stripping operations). The holes make it possible to mount each of the negatives on a master set of pins. Accordingly the images on the negatives are held in registration with respect to each other when the negatives are simultaneously placed on the master set of pins.

It is also customary for one set of negatives to contain several subjects or gang-up which is the result of the person making the negative achieving maximum use of film area and labor expended. The pin registration for each of the color negatives operates to maintain the accurate position of each of the ganged-up subjects. However, if the subjects are separated from each other by being cut apart, the advantage of the original pin registration is no longer available for each of the subjects.

In the present invention, the full-sized negatives are placed in registration by the master pin set described above, to get a desired effect.

If thereafter an individual subject on a gang-up is de sired, the user can employ the present invention and drill two or more holes in the subject area and the holes can be made through the entire stack or through a lesser amount of the stack. After the new holes are drilled, the subjects can be cut away individually and the negatives of the individual subjects will have their own set of registration holes for a corresponding set of pins.

SUMMARY The present cutter device provides a hollow shaft which is normally mounted vertically (although it need not be) and which has notches at its lower extremity to provide a cutting edge. The hollow shaft passes through and is secured to the center of a pulley which is motor driven through a belt by another pulley. In the center of the shaft there is located a knockout rod. The hollow shaft rides, or is movable, up and down this rod. The pulley is part of an assembly which can be moved downward to force the cutting edge of the shaft into an item to be cut, for instance, a stack of paper (or film The movement of the pulley (and hence the movement of the cutting edge of the shaft) is limited by an adjustable stop. The adjustable stop is calibrated with the readings representing the distance that the cutting edge will travel beyond the plane of the legs of the housing of the device. For instance, if the knob on the adjustable stop shows 0.025 inches, then 0.025 inches will be the depth of the cut in the stack of papers, or whatever it is cutting. The pulley is spring-loaded upward so that after it has cut the hole, it will be returned to its home position. When the hollow shaft slides up on the knockout rod, the rod will push the chips, or cut out pieces of paper (or film) from the hollow section of the shaft.

The object and features of the present invention will be better understood in view of the description hereinafter taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial cut-away side view of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view with no cut-away sections.

Consider FIG. 1 which depicts a housing 11 mounted on a pair of front legs 13 and 15 with only leg 15 being shown in FIG. 1, but leg 13 being shown in FIG. 2. The rear of the housing 11 is secured to a platform member 17 which in turn is mounted on four legs only two of which (i.e., legs 19 and 21) can be seen in FIG. 1. The housing 11 has a bore 23 therethrough which is formed wider at the top and bottom in order to accommodate bearings that are disposed therein as will be discussed in more detail hereinafter. The bore 23 has a diameter which is sufficiently large to accommodate the cutting shaft 22 with clearance.

At the lower end the bore 23 is formed into a wider section 24. In section 24 there is located a porous bronze bushing 25 which is cylindrical in shape and whose inside aperture permits the cutting shaft 22 to pass therethrough and rotate therein. The upper section 27 of bore 23 is formed wider to accommodate the porous bronze bushing 29. Bushing 29 is cylindrical in shape and has an aperture therein large enough to permit the cutting shaft 22 to pass therethrough and rotate therein.

Above section 27 there is a cup section 31 formed in the housing. The cup section 31 is internally threaded. Threaded into the cup 31 is a cutter adjustment assembly 33 which has an externally threaded stem 35, an adjusting knob 37 and an upper edge 39. The stem 35 is also cup shaped and located therein in a spring 41 and a nylon bushing 43. Both the spring 41 and the nylon bushing 43 are cylindrical in shape with the spring 41 having a center aperture large enough to enable it to easily slide over the outside diameter of the bushing 43. The bushing 43 has an inside aperture large enough to fit over the cutting shaft 22.

On top of the upper edge 39 there are disposed two porous bronze washers 45 and 47. The washers 45 and 47 abut the pulley 49. Pulley 49 is a part of a pulley assembly including a pulley hub. The clamping pulley hub 50 enables the pulley assembly to be secured to the cutting shaft 22 without requiring crushing pressure on the cutter tube. The pulley 49 is driven through resilient belt 51, shown partially in section, by pulley 53. Pulley 53 is secured to drive shaft 55 of motor 57. Motor 57 is adapted for connection to an electrical outlet by plug means 59. The motor 57 can be any one of a number of suitable motors and in the preferred embodiment is a Dayton AC-DC series motor, l 15 V, model 2M033, 1/15 HP, 5000 RPM, manufactured by Dayton Electric Mfg. Co.

Mounted in the front end of the cover 61 is a switch assembly 63. The switch assembly 63 is connected to the motor 57 by virtue of the wire connection 65. The depression of the switch button 67 turns on the motor 57 (assuming that the plug 59 is connected into an outlet). When motor 57 is running, the shaft 55 and pulley 53 rotate to drive pulley 49 by means of the belt 51. The rotating pulley 49 causes the cutting shaft 22 to rotate and cut into the paper (or film) stack 69, provided the shaft 22 is moved downward to go below the legs 15, 19 and 21 as shown in FIG. 1.

When there is no pressure (arrow 71) exerted on the cover 61, the spring 41 will act to return the pulley assembly 49, 50, cover 61, shaft 22, etc. upward to the non-depressed, or home, position. When pressure (arrow 71) is exerted on the cover 61, the spring 41 is compressed into the stem 35 and of course when the pressure is released the spring 41 expands. When the spring 41 expands it pushes against the washers 45 and 47 which in turn push against the pulley 49 and hub 50. The hub 50 has a porous bronze bearing 73 and a washer 75 fitted on top of the hub 50. Accordingly the hub 50 pushes against the bearing 73 and the washer 75 to lift the cover 61.

The entire assembly described above is guided to move, up and down, along a knockout rod 77. Rod 77 is held firmly in position by bracket 79, sleeve 81 and set screw 83. The sleeve 81 is secured to the bracket 79 by a clip element 85 and of course the set screw 83 secures the knockout rod to the overall bracket assembly.

The knockout rod plays an important role in the operation. When the cutting shaft 22 has cut pieces of paper or film from the stack 69, those pieces of paper, or chips, will fill in the hollow section of the shaft 22. As the shaft 22 moves upward, under the urging of spring 41, the chips will be pushed by rod 77 from the hollow section of the shaft 22. If the chips were not pushed from the cutting shaft, eventually the shaft would become jammed and filled down to the cutting notches 87 of shaft 22. Under such circumstances the cutting edge (notches 87) would no longer be effective for cutting a hole.

In the preferred embodiment there are four cutting notches 87 at the bottom of shaft 22, but there could be a different number and with different shapes. The edges of the notches are sharpened so that as they rotate, they cut into the paper.

Now it should be apparent that the movement of the cutting shaft 22 should be as close to truly vertical as possible since the hole that it is to cut should be vertical and not at an angle. If the cover 61 were hinged at the right hand end and the cutting assembly were rigidly secured to the cover, the cutting shaft might well enter the paper at an angle. In the present cutter device, the cover 61 and the pulley assembly 49 and 50 are moved upward by the spring 41 and there is some restraint on this movement because of the belt 51 which is held by the pulley 53. However since the upward movement is over a relatively small distance; i.e., about one-half inch, and since the belt 51 has some tendency to stretch the cutter assembly is able to move up and down in a straight line. The upward and downward movement of the cover 61 of the pulley assembly 49 and 50 as well as the cutting shaft 22 is truly vertical and therefore a vertical hole is cut in the stack 69. As the spring 41 pushes the cover 61 upward, the cover pivots on pivot member 89 and further rests on nylon cap 91. The pivot member 89 is located midway between the path of vertical travel of shaft 22 and the motor axis so that there is a minimum of rotational angle required.

Now the position of the upper edge 39 (of the cutter depth adjustment assembly 33) and in turn the washers 45 and 47 act as a downward stop on the vertical travel of the cutter and pulley assembly thus controlling the depth of the hole which is cut by the cutting shaft 22. Accordingly the adjusting knob 37 can be adjusted; i.e., rotated, to move the upper edge 39, up or down, depending on the depth of cut desired. When the adjusting knob 37 is rotated it causes the threaded stem 35 to be screwed into or out of the cup 31, thereby raising or lowering the upper edge 39. The adjusting knob 37 has graduated marks thereon which enable the depth to be selected to a small distance or tolerance. It follows then that the cutter can be used to cut holes in only part of a stack of items after the items have been aligned.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the cutter structure shown in FIG. 1 but shows the cover 61 and the pulley assembly 49 returned to the home position by spring 41. It will be noted that the washer 45 is separated from the upper edge 39 by a small distance. However that distance is enough to lift the cutting edge 87 out of and above the stack 69. It should be noted that the knockout rod 77 protrudes below the shaft 22 to push out any chips which may have gotten pushed up into the hollow center of tube 22. While it cannot be specifically seen in FIGS. 1 or 2, it should be understood that the bracket 79 is secured to the housing 11 and the cover 61 travels up and down within the bracket 79. This bracket acts as a support for the knockout rod 77 and the hinge pin 89.

Further note that there is an indicator member 93 which enables the user to set the proper, graduation for the depth of cut. The adjusting knob 37 can be reset and should be checked from time to time since its calibration depends upon the distances between the top edge 39 and the bottom of the legs 13, and 15, etc. remaining in a fixed relationship to the calibration.

I claim:

1. A hole cutter device for cutting holes in film material, paper material and the like, comprising in combination: housing means having a top and a base, and further having an aperture disposed to pass through said housing from said base to said top, said aperture formed to have an enlarged section at the top thereof; spring means; adjusting means having a top and a base and formed to fit into said enlarged section, said adjusting means further formed to have an aperture therethrough with said last-mentioned aperture being aligned with said aperture of said housing means when said adjusting means is fitted into said enlarged section, said adjusting means further formed to hold said spring means whereby said spring means extends beyond said top of said adjusting means when in a non-compressed state; hollow shaft means formed to have cutting teeth at one end thereof and disposed within said apertures in said housing means and said adjusting means with said cutting teeth disposed in close proximity to said base of said housing means; driving means secured to said hollow shaft means in order to rotate said hollow shaft means, said driving means disposed to rest on said spring loaded means and thereby hold said hollow shaft means in a first position; rod means formed and disposed to pass through said hollow shaft and protrude therefrom in said first position; first support means secured to said housing means and to said rod means to hold said rod means in a fixed position; and second support means movably mounted on said housing means and formed to respond to a force to direct said driving means to compress said spring means and thereby to come to rest on the top of said adjusting means whereby said hollow shaft is moved from said first position and said cutting teeth are urged into the material to be cut and whereby when said force is terminated, said cutting teeth are urged away from said material to be cut by the expansion of said spring means as it returns said hollow shaft to said first position.

2. A hole cutter according to claim 1 wherein said enlarged section has threads formed on its inside wall and wherein said adjusting means has a threaded section formed to be threaded into said enlarged section.

3. A hole cutter according to claim 2 wherein said adjusting means has a calibrated section which provides an indication of the amount of threading of said adjusting means into said enlarged section.

4. A hole cutter according to claim 3 wherein said housing means has support elements disposed at its ond support means is moved to depress said spring. 

1. A hole cutter device for cutting holes in film material, paper material and the like, comprising in combination: housing means having a top and a base, and further having an aperture disposed to pass through said housing from said base to said top, said aperture formed to have an enlarged section at the top thereof; spring means; adjusting means having a top and a base and formed to fit into said enlarged section, said adjusting means further formed to have an aperture therethrough with said last-mentioned aperture being aligned with said aperture of said housing means when said adjusting means is fitted into said enlarged section, said adjusting means further formed to hold said spring means whereby said spring means extends beyond said top of said adjusting means when in a non-compressed state; hollow shaft means formed to have cutting teeth at one end thereof and disposed within said apertures in said housing means and said adjusting means with said cutting teeth disposed in close proximity to said base of said housing means; driving means secured to said hollow shaft means in order to rotate said hollow shaft means, said driving means disposed to rest on said spring loaded means and thereby hold said hollow shaft means in a first position; rod means formed and disposed to pass through said hollow shaft and protrude therefrom in said first position; first support means secured to said housing means and to said rod means to hold said rod means in a fixed position; and second support means movably mounted on said housing means and formed to respond to a force to direct said driving means to compress said spring means and thereby to come to rest on the top of said adjusting means whereby said hollow shaft is moved from said first position and said cutting teeth are urged into the material to be cut and whereby when said force is terminated, said cutting teeth are urged away from said material to be cut by the expansion of said spring means as it returns said hollow shaft to said first position.
 2. A hole cutter according to claim 1 wherein said enlarged section has threads formed on its inside wall and wherein said adjusting means has a threaded section formed to be threaded into said enlarged section.
 3. A hole cutter according to claim 2 wherein said adjusting means has a calibrated section which provides an indication of the amount of threading of said adjusting means into said enlarged section.
 4. A hole cutter according to claim 3 wherein said housing means has support elements disposed at its base and wherein said calibrations indicate the distance that said cutting teeth will pass beyond the support elements when said second support means is moved to move said driving means to come to rest on said adjusting means.
 5. A hole cutter according to claim 1 wherein said second support means includes an electrical switch and wherein said driving means includes an electric motor and wherein said electrical switch is connected to said electrical motor to activate said motor when said second support means is moved to depress said spring. 